This invention relates to a method with a kit of materials and tools for treating, sealing and coloring grout with which tile and functionally similar material is adhered to floors and other structural surfaces.
Numerous materials and methods are known for attaching tile and like materials to surfaces and then, or later as necessary, sealing the grout that is exposed between the tile. However, there is no known materials and method which allows one to treat, seal and color ceramic tile at the same time in an easy and cost-effective manner as taught by this invention. Examples of more complex material and related methods for restoring grout are described in prior patent documents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,424, issued to Webster on Mar. 26, 1985, teaches a solution of water with a film-forming polymeric resin, a compatible surfactant, alkali metal salt, sodium hypochlorite, pigment and zinc oxide. This solution renders the grout porous for receiving coloring and attaching build-up material contained in the solution without adhering to tile at sides of the grout. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,238,542 and 4,143,019 issued to Burley teach other complex grout-covering materials designed to condition the grout to receive the materials without sticking to the tile. U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,267, issued to Weiant, et al. on Dec. 17, 1974, taught additional aqueous mortar compositions for covering and coloring grout without adhering to tile bordered by the grout.
A problem with these and other previous materials and methods for coloring, sealing and building up grout has been to treat the grout and to prevent grout-treating material from sticking to tile by devising highly complicated grout-treating materials to prevent such tile damage from treating grout. Previous grout-treating materials actually created much of the tile-damaging problems they were designed to avoid.